


Had A Heavy Day

by Merixcil



Series: Advent Fics 2018 [24]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Awkwardness, M/M, Post PacRim1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25384099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merixcil/pseuds/Merixcil
Summary: It's their last day in the Shatterdome and Newt's not ready to let it all go
Relationships: Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb
Series: Advent Fics 2018 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824643
Kudos: 1





	Had A Heavy Day

In theory, pulling apart the Shatterdome and breaking the Jagers down for parts is a good thing. Redundancy proves that they’ve done what they set out to do, allowing the planet to move on with its life. It started slowly, about a month after Becket and Mori made it back to the surface. The unbroken line on the sea floor was a dead certainty, enough unmanned subs had been sent down to double, triple check that everything was as it should be. They're free. Apocalypse successfully cancelled. Everyone go home.

The docks had been pulled apart first, then the command centre and the Jager stores. The importance of hard science in both stopping the influx of the Kaiju and monitoring the spot they had once occupied hasn’t been lost on anyone, so the lab has been the last thing to be picked apart. It's been happening slowly over the past weeks, boxes of less useful equipment being funnelled away, then specimens returned to the relevant governments then mass data exports to render the computers useless. Now Newt’s notes from the past three years have been trussed up in boxes right alongside Hermann’s, ready to be shipped off to MIT and LMU respectively, and it's a job not to cry. 

“It’s all gonna be gone.” Newt announces, stupidly, sweeping an arm round the scattered worktables and remaining few specimen samples that still need to be hauled away. “We go away for Christmas and then…poof! Thanks for playing, have a safe journey home.”

“Quite.” Hermann beams. He trains a careful eye on the movers, a long way from trusting them not to manhandle his notes into some unrecognisable form. “I for one will be quite happy to leave this place behind and get back to my numbers. Laboratory work is not my forte.”

“I’ll say.” Newt shoots back weakly. It’s becoming increasingly hard to argue with Hermann because Hermann is increasingly in a good mood. Newt hates the panicked lurch in his stomach every time he realises that all that fun he had trying to wind the guy up for two and a half years was just an annoyance to his lab partner. 

A few sad strings of tinsel are draped over the remaining flat surfaces. Hong Kong has enough British influence that they do Christmas pretty properly here, there’s no excuse to keep it drab except that this doesn’t feel like a celebration. Except it does feel like a celebration. Except. 

It’s been a rough day. Aside from all the heavy lifting. 

“How long are you staying in Hong Kong for?” Newt asks. 

Hermann barely looks up. “Just a couple of days. I’m back to Germany for Christmas. Would have booked an earlier flight but taking all this down took less time than I was expecting.”

“Right.” Newt shuffles his feet nervously. “Uh… don’t suppose you would wanna go out for a drink tonight?”

“Why not? I have nothing better to do.” Hermann turns to face Newt, still grinning wide. They look at each other for a long moment and the reality of what he’s being asked hits. “Ah. You mean…I see.”

“I mean, I don’t have to mean that.” Newt starts scratching at the juncture of his beard and his neck, a tic he’s picked up as a means of distracting himself when he’s trying not to keel over in embarrassment. “We could just…go for a drink in a normal, former colleagues sort of way.”

Herman blinks, his mouth tightening. “I had no idea you thought of me that way.”

“Well, I do. Sometimes. So. There you go.” Newt laughs at himself and hates how dead it sounds in the air. He wishes the movers would clear out for a minute and give them some space. 

With a shrug, Herman holds out a hand to shake. “I meant it when I said I had nothing better to do.”

“You shake hands when you arrange a date?” Newt laughs. 

“Well.” Hermann’s mouth twitches into a half smile. “This is the end of our professional relationship, Newton. I feel it’s only appropriate that we formally shut off this part of our lives before we try anything else.”

“Right.” Newt grins at him, shaking enthusiastically. He’s got a feeling tonight is gonna suck way less than the day. 

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted as part of a multi chaptered 'advent fics' fic that I'm trying to split up. If you think you've read it before, you probably have
> 
> Comments on the previous posting of this fic (just ask if you want me to remove yours) include:
> 
> >Cats_on_ao3: Omgg


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